When comparing Emacs vs Codenvy, the Slant community recommends Emacs for most people. In the question“What are the best JavaScript IDEs or editors?” Emacs is ranked 9th while Codenvy is ranked 18th. The most important reason people chose Emacs is:
Emacs can be controlled entirely with the keyboard. While true, I often find the mouse and menus handy for those lesser-used commands. An aide-memoir.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Keyboard-focused, mouse-free editing
Emacs can be controlled entirely with the keyboard. While true, I often find the mouse and menus handy for those lesser-used commands. An aide-memoir.
Pro Total customizability
Customizations can be made to a wide range of Emacs' functions through a Lisp dialect (Emacs Lisp). A robust list of existing Lisp extensions include the practical (git integration, syntax highlighting, etc) to the utilitarian (calculators, calendars) to the sublime (chess, Eliza).
Pro It's also an IDE
You can debug, compile, manage files, integrate with version control systems, etc. All through the various plugins that can be installed.
Pro Works in terminal or as a GUI application
You can use Emacs' command line interface or graphical user interface.
Pro Self documenting
Emacs has extensive help support built-in as well as a tutorial accessed with C-h t.
Pro Free
Licensed under GNU GPL.
Pro Great documentation
With 30+ years of use the Emacs documentation is very thorough. There are also a lot of tutorials and guides written by third parties.
Pro Vi keybindings through Evil mode
Evil mode emulates vim behaviors within Emacs. It enables Vi users to move inside the Emacs universe.
Pro Provides org-mode
Advanced planning and publication which can start as a simple list.
Pro Enormous range of functionalities (way beyond simple "text editing")
Through its programmability, a very broad range of functionalities can be integrated in emacs, turning it even into a "single point of contact" with the underlying operating system.
Pro Cross-platform
Works on Linux, Windows, Macintosh, BSD, and others.
Pro Integrates planning in your development process
You can jump straight from your org-mode files to programming tasks - and back - and build a seamless workflow.
Pro Versatile
Emacs is great for everything.
Pro Mini buffer
You can pass complicated arguments in the mini buffer.
Pro Ubiquity
Fully compliant GNU-emacs is available on many platforms, and they all understand .emacs configuration files.
Pro Rectangular cut and paste
Emacs can select rectangularly.
Pro Lisp customizations
With lisp customization, any behavior of Emacs can be changed. Update with pre-release patch can be also applied without recompiling the whole Emacs.
Pro Visual selection and text objects with Evil
Evil is an extensible vi layer for Emacs. It provides Vim features like Visual selection and text objects.
Pro dabbrev-expand (Alt-/)
Dynamic word completion.
Pro Support multi-line editing, multiple frame, powerful paren, crazy jumping style
Review the "Emacs Rocks" video.
Pro Has been widely used for a long time
The first verion of Emacs was written in 1974 and GNU Emacs in 1984.
Pro Helm plugin adds even more power to Emacs
Powerful commands, search, and more with the Helm plugin.
Pro GTK+ widgets support
Since version 25 you can run GTK widgets inside Emacs buffers. One of these is the WebKitGTK+, which allows the user to run a full-featured web browser inside Emacs with JavaScript and CSS support among other things.
Pro Excelent tutorial to get you started
The tutorial you are presented with at startup shows you exactly what you need to get started and teaches you how to use the built-in help yourself later.
Pro Interactive Shells
Emacs has a number of shell variants: ansi-term, shell, and eshell.
Pro Emacs provides magit, the best and most complete GIT interface
Complex git history editing become a breeze with very few keystrokes. And simple ones are quickly stashed in muscle memory. Git becomes an direct extension of your brain thanks to Magit. Cherrypicking, blaming, resetting, interactive rebasing, line level commit, spinoff branches... you name it, magit already has it and has typically all those 5 to 10 git CLI commands of higher-level patterns also tide to one simple shortcut (want to amend a commit three commits away ? forgot to branch out and you've got already N commits on master
? ... etc... ).
Pro Gnus
Managing several large mailing lists has never been easier using Gnus. The threading commands and the various ways of scoring articles means that I never miss important messages/authors, etc. A joy to use.
Pro Eshell is cross platform
You can use the underlying operating system shell as a terminal emulation in an Emacs buffer. Don't like the default shell for your configuration? You can change it to your liking.
Pro Excellent Lisp editing support
Built-in packages make editing Lisp source code feel natural.
Pro Use-package and org-mode
Missing some neural package that predicts actions, maybe in the next release ...
Pro Easy setup
Once an account is set up and the user has logged in, all that's needed to start is to pick a language, a framework and a PaaS. Codenvy also allows anonymous logins albeit with some important limitations.
Pro Powerful editor
Codenvy has a fast, secure browser-based editor that supports syntax highlighting, code completion, refactoring and more. It can be used to edit, build, run and debug projects. It even has multi-cursor support.
The layout will be familiar to most developer, especially those experienced with Eclipse, with a file explorer on the left, code on the right and tabs for builders, runners, terminal and events at the bottom.
Pro Beginner-friendly
It allows going to any box and pick up a project and work on it.
Pro Git support
Codenvy supports all Git commands through UI and Codenvy CLI.
Codenvy also integrates well with all major Git hosting providers including GitHub, BitBucket, GitLab. Sign up, sign in, repo cloning, uploading SSH keys are supported. Tutorials for integrating various providers can be found here.
Pro Partly open source
Codenvy is a full multi-user, multi-account, multi-tenant implementation of [Eclipse Che](https://github.com/eclipse/che/_ which is open source but only single-user/account/tenant. Codenvy open source projects can be viewed on GitHub.
Pro Self-hostable (priced)
Codenvy has an on-premises solution that allows running it on own hardware and behind a firewall. The service costs $300/user/year.
Pro Nice interface
Look and usability of Codenvy IDE are nice and pleasant.
Pro Easy projects sharing
Projects are share by sharing the link (public projects), adding access rights (private and public projects) and factory.
Factory allows to share projects along with build/run settings. To try run/review project recipient just need an URL. Factory also works with external git repositories so it allows share github/bitbucket/other git hosting projects. Recipient doesn't have to be registered. It also allows giving out a share button that activates the factory and counts how many times it is used.
Pro Portable workspaces
You can send someone a short JSON file and your whole workspace (projects, config and runtime) can be replicated for them in a separate container. Great for coordinating among team members.
Pro On-demand, instant-access, real-time collaborative IDEs
Codenvy "Factory" feature enables developers to create temporary IDE workspaces with full code, build, test, deploy, and collaboration functionality that can be shared with a URL. Multiple people can work in the same workspace making code reviews and teaching simpler and faster. And there's no limit to collaborators.
Factories also work with external git repositories and can be shared with not registered users of Codenvy. It also allows counting how much a factory is used.
Pro Has a fully functional free tier
Codenvy provides a fully functional free tier with 3 GB of RAM and unlimited workspaces, free and public projects and developers. Premium subscription start at $1/month and offers machines with up to 200GB of RAM. Codenvy also offers an on-premises solution that costs $300/user/year.
Pro Fantastic Java support
All Java builders, syntax highlighting, class navigator, jump to package and declaration, and JavaDoc are present in Codenvy.
Pro Can provide a custom runtime environment
Codenvy can provide a runtime environment to test and debug code. This can also be used to share work progress with a client.
Codenvy uses Docker as the runtime application and gives access to Dockerfiles allowing any environment that runs on Linux to be built. This allows using any database, reverse proxy or builder, etc. Codenvy even provides SSH access to running container in every image.
There's also a selection of pre-built environments to speed up the development.
Pro Install anywhere Docker runs
You can install Codenvy on any OS that has Docker running on it. The simple install syntax can work through proxies and even offline.
You can use this for proxy install:
https://codenvy.com/docs/admin-guide/installation/index.html#proxy-installation
You can use this for offline install:
https://codenvy.com/docs/admin-guide/installation/index.html#offline-installation
Pro Provides a terminal with root access
Codenvy offers a terminal with full root access into the machine. Since machines can be defined with Dockerfiles this gives the ability to create any custom environment for building, running or debuging and all the access that's needed to use it as a local machine.
Pro Complete build lifecycle
The IDE allows validating, compiling, testing, packaging and deploying.
Pro Integrates with a wide variety of tools
Codenvy offers first class support for code management, continuous integration, PaaS, and project management tools.
Pro Automation of contribution to GitHub projects
Codenvy provides contribution button that can be placed in Readme.md file on GitHub. It automates contribution to the Github's projects. User clicks this button and it opens a ready to run/edit version of the project in Codenvy. If a user makes changes, Codenvy takes care of everything needed for the contribution on GitHub.
- fork of the origin project on github
- add ssh keys to push to github
- commit
- push
- create pull request in the origin project
- create factory url for review of this pull
- post this factory in pull request.
Then project's owner can use posted link to code review/run project with changes.
Pro Badge to start developing in one click
You can create a .codenvy.json
containing the Factory configuration which includes what binaries to install and how to set up the IDE, may be even start the development server. Then create a badge and put it on your GitHub repository and people can start coding and may be compile and run your server with one click.
Pro Lots of built-in templates
Pro Can be used for Android development
Can be used for android development by adding Eclipse plugin.
Pro Custom build system support
Codenvy allows setting up any build system via Dockerfile. Instructions on how to do it can be found here.
Pro Has Eclipse plugin
Codenvy can be plugged into Eclipse offering choice between online and offline builds. Plugin can be found here.
Pro Developer workspace replicas
Codenvy can create a recipe for a developer workspace that includes the build and run environment configuration plus all the IDE plug-ins, syntax rules, policies and other items. Then version and store that with the code in a repository. Makes it impossible to get a code change that doesn't build and run.
Pro Quick support from staff
Pro One-click automation
Pro SSH Access
Can connect to the workspace via SSH for use with desktop editors.
Pro Provides Java debugger
Pro Includes Subversion support
Codenvy includes full subversion version control support.
Cons
Con Learning curve is long
While it's better than it used to be, with most functions being possible through the menu, Emacs is still quite a bit different from your standard editor. You'll need to learn new keyboard shortcuts.
Con Sometimes the extensibility can distract you from your actual work
If I ever want to lose half a day, I'll start by tweaking my .spacemacs config file.
Con Keyboard combinations can be confusing for new users
For example, for navigation it uses the b, n, p, l keys. Which for some people may seem strange in the begging. However they can be changed easily.
Con Documentation is not beginner-friendly
Although lots of good built-in documentation _exists_, I have after four years of Emacs as my primary editor not figured out how to actually make use of it, and rely completely on Google / StackOverflow for help.
Con User interface is terrible
I was using Emacs in the early 1980's, before there were GUIs. In fairness to Emacs, its original design was conceived in that context and is rather good at some things, like flexible ability to bind commands to keyboard shortcuts. Unfortunately, it didn't keep up with the times and fails to take advantage of the entire world of GUI design that's revolutionized computer science since then. So Emacs does 5% or what an editor should do quite will, and is surprisingly under-powered and old fashioned at the other 95%. To this day, it lacks or struggles with very basic things, like interactive dialogs, toolbars, tabbed interface, file system navigation, etc., etc. The things I just mentioned, are all present in some limited and inept form, but falls far short of current standard of good user interface design. For this reason, I would not recommend Emacs to anyone who is under 50 year old, or who needs power user capabilities. For casual, unsophisticated applications by someone who grew up with green screen character based computers, it's probably OK.
Con Emacs lisp is very poorly designed
The language that's used for user customization, extensions, and for much of the basic editor functionality, is Emacs lisp, or elisp for short. I actually like lisp in general, especially Scheme, but unfortunately, elisp is one of the worst versions of lisp ever created, barely meriting being called lisp. It's very slow, impoverished in features, inconsistent, and rather inelegant in design. Elisp needed to be overhauled 20 or 30 years ago, but the Emacs developers were not willing to do the work. I believe this is one of the major reasons Emacs is so buggy, lacking in features, development is so slow, and consequently almost nobody uses it (or should use it) anymore.
Con Very poorly maintained
It's not clear to what extent Emacs is still supported. There's still some development taking place, but so slow that it's almost an abandoned project. There are numerous bugs in Emacs, many these days associated with start up and package management. When you search the Internet for solutions, you often find many posts, sometimes going back months or even years, with no clear fix.
Con Hard customization
For customization, you need to learn Lisp.
Con A lot of jokes in this serious software
Con Using Emacs on a new machine without your .emacs file
Con No custom keyboard shortcuts
No possibility to create custom keyboard shortcuts.
Con No SSH, FTP mode
For example, "Code everywhere" allows using SSH, FTP as base of project. In Codenvy it's possible only through VM.
Con No Collaborative editing
At the moment, Codenvy does not have real-time collaborative-editing. But this is on roadmap, and would be implemented soon.
Con Lacks two-factor authentication
Con Slow installation by default
Trying to install with "npm install" and the server restarts before the installation. However, you can circumvent this by using npm install --no-bin-links
.